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Alma Licona

Judith R. McCann

English 1301 Section 129

30 November 2022

The Hidden Community of K-Pop

Whenever the genre K-Pop is mentioned, many individuals instantly think about crazy

and obsessive fans. Others think about worldwide star Bangtan Sonyeondan, better known as

BTS. While many people have negative things to say about K-Pop, like the language barrier,

others share their love for this music genre. This community, which is available on various

platforms, is the K-Pop community. The K-Pop community is an open space in which many fans

participate; via Twitter, fans work together to share their liked artists, help their favorite artists

receive awards, and meet like-minded individuals.

To begin with, K-Pop idols, just like western artists, have the recognition and fame they

have because of the support from their fans. For instance, when a K-Pop idol is set to debut, the

company they signed with releases pre-debut projects. These projects can range from pictures,

calendars, YouTube videos, and pre-debut content to music video teasers. By releasing various

content, companies try to build momentum for the upcoming debut. However, companies can

only do so much; this is where the fans usually step in. The fan’s job is to share the idol or group

that is debuting to as many people as they can. To give an idea, after seeing all the content that is

being published, fans usually begin to comment and retweet the images and teasers that were

being posted by the company; by doing this, fans get more people to be attentive to the debut.

This means more music video views, more recognition, and potentially more money. For

instance, user @jeonshalaa posted a video of three dancers dancing to “Touch” by a western girl
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group called Little Mix. Another user, that goes by @cyberxasexual, responded to the video by

commenting, “For anyone who’s curious: they are part of KQ Fellaz 2, the new boy group under

KQ Entertainment.” As more people encountered this tweet, the three boys began to gain

recognition. Therefore, new fans join the fanbase and anticipate the group’s debut.

Along with helping their favorite artist gain recognition, fans also help

obtain prestigious awards. During the holiday months, November and December, fans begin to

vote for the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA); the categories for this award show can vary

from WorldWide Fans’ Choice Top 10 to the night's leading award: Daesang. Via Twitter, fans

begin to vote for their preferred artist under certain categories; they begin to tweet and retweet

posts as well as hashtags. Fans often vote on Twitter because it is a platform open to the world;

some platforms that Korea utilizes for award shows are not available to overseas fans, so foreign

fans take the voting to Twitter. For example, Han Jisung Loops, @hanjisungloop, tweeted “Day

4 I vote for #straykids for 2021 World’s Fans’ Choice Top 10 #MAMAVOTE.” As fans tweet

their vote, MAMA begins to count them. On the other hand, there are users who offer free votes;

these accounts create polls in which fans can vote for their favorite K-Pop idol. The idol who is

chosen by the fans is the one who receives the free votes. @KPopvotes_ is an example; the user

tweeted, “Free Twitter Votes!! For Mama 2021.” Under the tweet, fans could select from groups

like Ateez, Treasure, Exo, and The Boyz. The winning group was Ateez with 85.3% of the 320

total votes. Therefore, @Kpopvotes_ gifted the male group, Ateez, with free votes for MAMA.

Moreover, a fan's more personal objective is meeting like-minded people.

K-Pop fans can not often publicize their preference for K-Pop without somebody thinking it is

gross (Daryadel, par. 2). Many non-fans often ask K-Pop fans how they can listen to Korean

music when they do not understand the language; they ask how fans can listen to such “poppy”
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music. Because of these assumptions, fans try to make friends with similar preferences via online

rather than in person. Take for example user @Gen_minshi; this account tweeted, “Hello I’m

Gen she/her looking for interactive engene and K-Pop moots.” In her tweet, Gen made sure to

mention what fanbase she was in, engene, which is a popular group Enhypen’s fandom name,

and what she was looking for in a friend. She received many replies from users; one of them was

@eunflict stating, “Let’s be moots.” Usually, this is the process many fans do in order to meet

new moots or friends. After building trust, fans often start to trade with each other despite the

distance between them. They begin to trade photocards, albums, and even lightsticks. Fans, as

previously stated, feel more comfortable and open to people who have similar interests.

Although each one of them comes from diverse background, K-Pop is what brings them together.

In summation, the K-Pop community is much more than obnoxious fan girls and

worldwide star BTS. Behind the stereotypical ideas created, lies a community of people that

work towards the goals they have. Via Twitter, the participants of this community share their

favorite artists, help their artists gain awards, and meet like-minded individuals. Despite the

language barrier, the different cultures, and the stereotyped created by individuals, this

community is unified by something far stronger- K-pop.

Works Cited

Daryadel, Nikta. “Stereotypes around K-Pop music misrepresent fan’s perspective.” Oviedo

Journalism, 19 Sept. 2019, https://oviedojournalism.com/3827/opinion/stereotypes-

around-k-pop-music-misrepresent-fans-perspective/ Accessed 8 Sept. 2022.

from Strictland, Jess [@cyberxasexual]. “For anyone who’s curious: they are part of KQ fellaz 2,

the next boy group under KQ Entertainment.” Twitter, 31 Aug. 2022,

https://twitter.com/cyberxasexual/status/1565123289281957889. Accessed 7 Sep. 2022.

hera [@eunflict]. “let’s be moots” Twitter, 9 Sep. 2022,

https://twitter.com/eunflict/status/1568183706418040834. Accessed 15 Sep. 2022

제니 [@Gen_minshi]. “hello i’m gen she/her looking for interactive filo engene and kpop moots

help me by rt-ing this tweet thank you !!” Twitter, 9 Sep. 2022,

https://twitter.com/Gen_minshi/status/1568132958653132800. Accessed 15 Sep. 2022.

jisung loops, han [@hanjisungloop]. “Day 4 I vote for #straykids for 2021 World Fans’ Choice

Top 10 #MAMAVOTE” Twitter, 7 Nov. 2021,

https://twitter.com/hanjisungloop/status/1457271615151017984. Accessed 13 Sep. 2022

#MCOUNTDOWN, Free Kpop votes! [@Kpopvotes_]. “Free Twitter Votes!! For Mama 2021

#ATEEZ #TREASURE #EXO #TheBoyz” Twitter, 10 Dec. 2021,

https://twitter.com/Kpopvotes_/status/1469502884614127618. Accessed 13 Sep. 2022.

rush hour, f✿◎ [@jeonshalaaa]. “A kpop pre debut group danced touch, a timeless bop, Little

Mix you will always be famous.” Twitter, 31 Aug. 2022,

https://twitter.com/jeonshalaaa/status/1565010503755304961. Accessed 7 Sep. 2022.